KARACHI: An accountability court directed the investigating officer (IO) on Wednesday to submit progress report in a case against the Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, his family members and others regarding alleged unlawful assets worth over Rs1.61 billion.

Mr Durrani, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former provincial minister, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from an Islamabad hotel on Feb 20 for investigation into his alleged movable and immovable assets beyond his known sources of income.

On Wednesday, when the matter came up for hearing before Accountability Court-III Judge Dr Sher Bano Karim, the NAB IO was absent. The judge expressed displeasure over the absence and not submitting a progress report in the case despite the lapse of considerable time.

She directed the IO to appear and submit a progress report in the case on the next date and fixed the matter for Sept 4.

In March, the federal anti-graft watchdog filed a reference against Mr Durrani, his spouse and four children among 19 suspects allegedly for acquiring movable and immovable assets valued at around Rs1.61bn through illegal means.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2019